Crossing the river

来源: http://www.economist.com/news/business

导语：中国经济日益发展，各行都有大型的公司。特别是我国日益发展的电商产业，已经备受全球瞩目。而面对国外激烈的竞争，中国的企业表现怎么样呢？是不是像在国内一样叱咤风云呢？

Chinese companies have a weak record abroad. They must do better.

CONSIDERING the size of China’s economy, it seems inevitable that its firms will eventually play a huge role on the world stage. Yet China Inc’s adventures abroad in the past 15 years have been a mixed bag. Thousands of small deals have taken place, some of which will succeed. But of the mergers and acquisitions that have been worth $1bn or more, it is a different story. There have been 56 abandoned deals, 39 state-backed acquisitions of commodities firms at frothy prices, and, lately, wild sprees by tycoons scooping up trophies such as hotels and football clubs.

单词：
inevitable美 [ɪn'evɪtəb(ə)l] 英 [ɪn'evɪtəb(ə)l]
[1] adj.不可避免的；不能防止的；总会发生的；照例必有的
[2] n.必然发生的事；不可避免的事
例：Trying to be perfect may be sort of inevitable for people like us, who are smart and ambitious and interested in the world.
像我们这样的人，不仅聪明，胸怀大志，还放眼世界，所以力求完美可能无法避免。

merger美 ['mɜrdʒər] 英 ['mɜː(r)dʒə(r)]
[1] n.（机构或企业的）合并
例：The company is approached by an American publisher with the suggestion of a merger .
一家美国出版商与该公司商谈有关合并的事宜。

acquisition美 [.ækwɪ'zɪʃ(ə)n] 英 [.ækwɪ'zɪʃ(ə)n]
[1] n.收购；购置；（知识、技能等的）获得；（多指贵重的）购得物
例：An acquisition is often the quickest (and sometimes the only) way to gain a foothold in a country.
要在某一国获得立足点，收购通常是最快捷（有时也是唯一）的方法。

commodity 美 [kə'mɑdəti] 英 [kə'mɒdəti]
n.商品；产品；货物；商品经济
例：few days ago, when he was paying the delivery for the commodity he had ordered online, he found the charge was a little bit increased.
几天前他在网上订购了一件商品，可是货到付款时，却发现了一点小变化。

scoop 美 [skup] 英 [skuːp]
[1] n.勺；独家新闻；铲子；一勺（的量）
[2] v.用勺儿舀；用铲儿铲；拿起；抢先报道
例：Remember that the sun will still rise tomorrow even if I had one too many slices of pizza or an extra scoop of ice cream tonight.
记得明天太阳会照常升起，即便今晚我吃了太多匹萨和冰淇淋。

Some deals defy any conventional logic. Last month HNA, an airlines-and-tourism conglomerate from Hainan, said it had bought a 10% stake in Deutsche Bank, having earlier considered buying a Landesbank. The Chinese firm, which runs a beach-volleyball tournament in Beijing, appears to think it can consolidate Germany’s fragmented banking industry—the financial equivalent of bringing peace to the Middle East. If China Inc is to realise its potential abroad, it needs a more credible approach.

conglomerate美 [kən'ɡlɑmərət] 英 [kən'ɡlɒmərət]
[1] n.砾岩；企业集团；联合大公司；合成物
[2] adj.【地】砾岩(性)的；成球(状)的；结成团块的；混杂会聚在一处的
[3] v.(使)结聚成一团
例：They proposed merging their assets, which include some of Russia's largest mines and factories, into a state-controlled conglomerate.
他们建议，将他们的资产，包括俄罗斯的最大的矿山和工厂，合并成一个国有的大型联合企业。

Tournament美 ['tɜrnəmənt] 英 ['tʊə(r)nəmənt]
[1] n.锦标赛；联赛；（中世纪的）骑马比武
例：Now, for those of you who do not know, the Triwizard Tournament brings together three schools for a series of magical contests.
有人可能不清楚，三强争霸赛是一个由三所学校参加的系列魔法竞赛。

Consolidate美 [kən'sɑlɪ.deɪt] 英 [kən'sɒlɪdeɪt]
[1] v.合并；使加强；使巩固
例：Chile is ready to work with China to further consolidate and develop bilateral comprehensive cooperative partnership.
智方愿同中方一道，进一步巩固和发展两国全面合作伙伴关系。

Fragment美 ['fræɡmənt] 英 ['fræɡmənt]
[1] n.片段；破片；弹片；小块
[2] v.分割；使成碎片
例：He stretched out his hand desperately as if to snatch only a wisp of air, to save a fragment of the spot that she had made lovely for him.
他绝望地伸出手去，仿佛只想抓住一缕轻烟，从那个因为她而使他认为是最可爱的地方留下一个碎片。

Credible美 ['kredɪb(ə)l] 英 ['kredəb(ə)l]
[1] adj.可信的；可靠的；（因看似可能成功而）可接受
例：He said: "If economic sanctions do not achieve their goals, they should issue a credible threat of force. "
他说：“如果经济制裁没有达到目的，就应该发出可信的武力威胁。”
长难句1：The Chinese firm, which runs a beach-volleyball tournament in Beijing, appears to think it can consolidate Germany’s fragmented banking industry—the financial equivalent of bringing peace to the Middle East.
主干：the Chinese firm appears to think sth.
分析：Which引导定语从句修饰主语Chinese firm，which在句子中指代firm做主语，从句主干是which runs a tournament，think后面是宾语，用句子代替，因此是宾语从句，从句主干是it can consolidate sth，破折号表示解释说明，进一步解释前面这句话。
大意：这家在北京赞助了沙滩排球巡回赛的中国公司似乎认为自己有能力整合德国分散的银行业，但要在金融领域里完成此举，难度堪比实现中东和平。

The experience of Britain, and then America, in the 20th century suggests that economic hegemons control a disproportionate share of the world’s stock of cross-border corporate investment. Today China’s slice is only 4%, below its 15% share of global GDP and its 13% share of total stockmarket value. Its leaders want firms to go faster. If companies don’t globalise, China won’t become powerful, argues Wang Jianlin, boss of Dalian Wanda, a property firm, and China’s richest tycoon, in his autobiography.

Hegemons
n.霸主；霸王；霸权国家
例：Hegemons cannot for long survive such rising indebtedness.
霸权国家无法长期经受这种不断上升的债务。

Disproportionate美 [.dɪsprə'pɔrʃ(ə)nət] 英 [.dɪsprə'pɔː(r)ʃ(ə)nət]
[1] adj.不成比例的；不相称的；太大（或太小）的
例：The two nations account for a huge chunk of the U. S. defense budget, and a disproportionate amount of diplomatic attention and resources.
两国占据了美国国防预算的大头，这与他们的外交影响力和资源潜力极不相乘。

Autobiography美 [.ɔtoʊbaɪ'ɑɡrəfi] 英 [.ɔːtəʊbaɪ'ɒɡrəfi]
[1] n.自传；自传体写作
例：In his autobiography, he wrote, "I had no idea what I could achieve, but at least I made a resolution4 to start something. "
他在自传中如此写道：“虽然我不知道「能」做到什么程度，但至少我有了个开始的决心。”

In their hurry, Chinese firms have made mistakes. Deals worth $1bn or more account for two-thirds of activity by value since 2005. Of these about half fall into three problematic categories. First, acquisitions by state-controlled groups of natural-resources firms. The aim was to secure access to raw materials but many deals were badly timed, with high prices paid at the peak of the commodity cycle between 2010 and 2014. CNOOC, an oil firm, for example, has written off part of its $17bn acquisition in 2012 of Nexen, a Canadian oil firm.

Problematic美 [.prɑblə'mætɪk] 英 [.prɒblə'mætɪk]
[1] adj.造成困难的；产生问题的
例：The Internet increases the availability of harmful, problematic and illegal content, but does not always increase minors' exposure.
互联网让有害的、有问题的、非法的内容更容易获得，但未成年人并不总是更容易接触到。

Secure美 [sɪ'kjʊr] 英 [sɪ'kjʊə(r)]
[1] v.保护；取得；保卫；抵押
[2] adj.安心的；有把握的；可靠的；牢靠的
例：Now you are ready to set up the secure register balance accounting system.
现在您已经准备好安装安全的收银机结算系统。

Raw美 [rɔ] 英 [rɔː]
[1] n.痛处；生的食物；纯酒；粗糖
[2] adj.生的；未烹制的；未煮的；未经加工的
[3] v.使皮开肉绽
例：Wherever you get your raw data, the reader is now set up and ready to parse.
无论是从何处获取原始数据，现在已建立了阅读器并为解析做好准备。

The second difficult category consists of acquisition sprees by leveraged conglomerates, financed by debt or by the funds that policyholders entrust to these firms’ insurance subsidiaries. Four such companies—HNA, Dalian Wanda, Fosun (based in Shanghai) and Anbang—have spent $100bn on assets that include luxury hotels, a Portuguese bank, a Russian gold mine and a yachtmaker. It is hard to see industrial logic behind the purchases. Fosun and HNA, which disclose their accounts, have eye-watering ratios of debt to gross operating profit of 8 and 13 times respectively. In the last category are outright flops: $230bn of deals worth $1bn or more have collapsed because the buyer or the Chinese government got cold feet, or because of a hostile reception abroad. As a result Chinese buyers are seen as unreliable.

Sprees美 [spri] 英 [spriː]
[1] n.欢闹；无节制的狂热行为；阵发性的暴力行动
[2] v.狂欢
例：A few shopping sprees like this one and your savings account will soon dry up.
再有几次这样的疯狂购物，你的存款很快就会用光的。

Leverage 美 ['lev(ə)rɪdʒ] 英 ['liːvərɪdʒ]
[1] n.杠杆，杠杆作用，影响力
[2] v.发挥杠杆作用，施加影响
例：Still, he said the law could be used to gain leverage in negotiations with China.
但他说，这项法律可以为美国增加与中国谈判的筹码。

Subsidiary美 [səb'sɪdi.eri] 英 [səb'sɪdiəri]
[1] n.子公司；附属公司
[2] adj.辅助的；附带的；次要的；附属的
例：Company shall have the right to assign all or any portion of its rights hereunder to any other affiliate or subsidiary of Company.
公司有权转让全部或部分合同项下的权利，任何其他关联公司或附属公司。

Portuguese 美 [.pɔrtʃə'ɡiz] 英 [.pɔː(r)tʃʊ'ɡiːz]
[1] n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语
[2] adj.葡萄牙的
例：Macao, which had been leased to the Portuguese from 1557 till the eve of the Opium Wars, has turned into a leading international trade city.
澳门于1557年被葡萄牙人租住，至鸦片战争前夕，巳成为重要的国际商业城市。

Outright 美 [aʊt'raɪt] 英 [.aʊt'raɪt]
[1] adj.完全的；彻底的；绝对的；公开的
[2] adv.公开地；直率地；毫无保留地；完全彻底
例：I told him outright what I thought of him.
我坦白地告诉他我对他的感想。

Flop 美 [flɑp] 英 [flɒp]
[1] v.沉重地躺下；移动；砸锅；完全失败
[2] adv.噗地一声
[3] n.不成功
例：If you don't prosper, it's easy to feel like a flop, that you've wasted your life and failed your family.
假若你一事无成，往往就会觉得自己是失败者，浪费著生命，令家人失望。

Hostile 美 ['hɑst(ə)l] 英 ['hɒstaɪl]
[1] adj.敌意的；敌对的；坚决否定；强烈反对
[2] n.敌对分子；【美史】敌视白人的印第安人
例：If they cannot insist on this, they say, there is nothing to stop their group from being taken over by people hostile to its principles.
学生们说：如果他们不能坚持这一点的话，就无法阻止其团体被那些对其原则抱有敌意的人所掌控了。

长难句2： In the last category are outright flops: $230bn of deals worth $1bn or more have collapsed because the buyer or the Chinese government got cold feet, or because of a hostile reception abroad.
句子主干：in the last category are outright flops.
分析1：有的同学说，这个句子主干很奇怪诶，主语是in the last category么？并不是，介词短语不能做主语的，真正的主语是outright flops，这里是介词短语前置的一种倒装结构，一般主语较长的时候会用，你看这句话主语后有冒号，后面是在解释。再比如：On the ground lay some 
air conditioners, which are to be shipped to some other cities. 同样的用法吧~
分析2：我们继续看冒号后面的内容，主语是$230bn of deals，worth $1bn or more修饰deals，谓语是have collapsed。后面是由or并列，前半部分是because引导的原因状语从句，从句的主干是the buyer or the Chinese government got cold feet；后半部分是because of（复合介词）引导的介词短语。
大意：最后一个类别完全是败笔：由于买方或中国政府临阵退缩，或者由于在国外遭到歧视，价值10亿美元或以上的交易中有总计2300亿美元的交易告吹。结果使得中国买家如今被认为是不可靠的。

Other countries have been on foreign M&A benders: in 1989-90 Japanese companies bought a Hollywood studio and the Rockefeller Centre and in 2005-15 Indian firms splurged overseas. But China is different. It is much bigger. And its firms’ weaknesses abroad reflect the unique problems of its economy at home.

Bender美 ['bendər] 英 ['bendə(r)]
[1] n.（一段时间）狂饮作乐
例：Given a chance to turn worthless money into valuable commodities, Shanghailanders went on a buying bender.
上海人乘此机会疯狂地抢购，把毫无价值的钞票换成有价值的商品。

Splurge美 [splɜrdʒ] 英 [splɜː(r)dʒ]
[1] n.挥霍；乱花钱；糟蹋钱
[2] v.挥霍；乱花（钱）；糟蹋（钱）
例：A splurge on signings would only make sense if it was calculated that the disaffection of fans was liable to be even more costly.
只有球迷的不满会带来更高代价时，一掷千金罗致球员的场面怕是才能发生。

State-controlled firms are the most financially undisciplined. They are also more likely to provoke opposition abroad from private rivals and from politicians who can argue that China’s government is meddling in their economy. As for the country’s entrepreneurs, cheap loans from state banks and a reluctance to issue equity leads them to assume too much debt and to speculate. They need to be politically connected to get bank loans and get around currency controls, but such connections can be fickle. In 2015 Fosun’s boss was arrested and then released. This month Anbang has had to deny that its chairman is banned from leaving the country. China’s outbound foreign investment dropped by 49% year on year in the first quarter of 2017, with an official clampdown on such speculative deals partly to blame.

Undisciplined美 [ʌn'dɪsə.plɪnd] 英 [ʌn'dɪsəplɪnd]
[1] adj.无组织纪律的；没规矩的；缺乏管教的
例： When he was young and undisciplined. All that energy was used for causing trouble.
当他还年轻不羁时，他所有的这些精力都用在制造麻烦上了。

Provoke美 [prə'voʊk] 英 [prə'vəʊk]
[1] v.引发；激起；引起；挑衅
例：Simply freshening-up the smell of a room is enough to provoke a subconscious impulse towards fairness, researchers claimed.
研究人员称，仅仅改变一下房间的气味就足以引发人们对公平的下意识冲动。

Rival美 ['raɪv(ə)l] 英 ['raɪv(ə)l]
[1] v.与…相匹敌；比得上
[2] adj.竞争的
[3] n.竞争对手
例：Mrs Merkel's personal ratings have held up better; voters prefer her to any likely rival as chancellor.
默克尔夫人的个人支持率相比还乐观一些；同其他可能成为总理的对手相比，选民更支持默克尔。

Meddling 美 ['med(ə)l] 英 ['med(ə)l]
[1] v.干涉；弄；参与
例：But the president said he has taken a more measured approach to avoid the appearance that the United States is meddling in Iranian affairs.
但是奥巴马总统说，他一直采取更为谨慎的措施，以避免看起来好像美国在干涉伊朗事务。

Reluctance美 [rɪ'lʌktəns] 英 [rɪ'lʌktəns]
n.不情愿；【电】磁阻；厌恶；反抗 (to； at)
例：But business, too, is often a slow-moving gerontocracy, hidebound by a reluctance to let creative individuals make quick decisions.
不过日本商界常常也是一个行动迟缓、处在老人统治下的领域，固守着一种不愿令富有创造力的个人快速作出决断的心态。

Fickle美 ['fɪk(ə)l] 英 ['fɪk(ə)l]
[1] adj.易变的；无常的；反复无常的
例：A difficult problem could be good for a designer, but a fickle client or unreliable materials would not be.
一个困难的问题对一个设计者来说是好的，但是一个多变的客户和不可靠的材料不是。

Outbound美 ['aʊt.baʊnd] 英 ['aʊt.baʊnd]
[1] adj.向外的；出港的；离开某地的
[2] v.跳过

Clampdown美 ['klæmp.daʊn] 英 ['klæmp.daʊn]
[1] v.严厉打击；强制执行；严禁；施压
[2] n.严禁
例：If the perception takes hold of a clampdown on foreign coverage of the disaster and its aftermath, China could start to lose sympathy.
一旦外界形成中国政府限制外国媒体报道灾难及其后果的看法，中国可能会开始失去同情。

Speculative美 ['spekjələtɪv] 英 ['spekjʊlətɪv]
[1] adj.推测的；猜测的；推断的；揣摩的
例：And that in a country where speculative bubbles have been a constant phenomenon since market-based reforms picked up pace in the 1980s.
而且，自上世纪80年代市场改革提速以来，投机泡沫在中国一直经久不衰。

长难句3：They are also more likely to provoke opposition abroad from private rivals and from politicians who can argue that China’s government is meddling in their economy.
句子主干：They are more likely to provoke opposition abroad.
分析：And并列两个from介词短语，who引导定语从句修饰politicians，从句主干是who can argue sth；定语从句中谓语动词argue后面出现了一个宾语从句，从句的主干是China’s government is meddling in their economy.
大意：他们也更有可能在海外引起私营竞争对手和正科的反对—这些政客可能会称中国政府干预本国经济。

More sensible ways of going global may be emerging, however. State-backed firms are using new mechanisms to persuade foreign countries that they will operate on a largely commercial basis. ChemChina has just bought Syngenta, a Swiss chemicals firm, for $46bn. It has promised to keep Syngenta’s headquarters and research in Switzerland. China Investment Corporation (CIC), a sovereign-wealth fund, is to spend $14bn buying Logicor, a European warehousing business. CIC will presumably argue that it is a financial buyer and won’t meddle. China’s one-belt-one-road initiative is partly aimed at reassuring foreign countries that do business with state-backed firms, by putting contracts and activity under a bilateral, diplomatic umbrella.

mechanism美 ['mekə.nɪzəm] 英 ['mekə.nɪz(ə)m]
[1] n.机制；机械装置；方法；机件
例：While the exact mechanism is unknown, there seems to be solid evidence that this medication can help.
虽然精确的治疗机构还没处于未知数中，但是似乎有足够的证据表明这种药能起作用。

commercial美 [kə'mɜrʃ(ə)l] 英 [kə'mɜː(r)ʃ(ə)l]
[1] adj.贸易的；商业的；赢利的；以获利为目的的
[2] n.（电台或电视播放的）广告
例：The U. S. Federal Reserve is trying to help the 4th largest U. S. credit card company by allowing it to become a commercial bank.
美国联邦储备委员会正在帮助美国第四大信用卡公司，使它能够成为商业银行。

headquarter美 ['hɛd'kwɔrtər] 英 ['hed'kwɔ:tə]
[1] v.设总部；在…设总部；把…放在总部中
例：The headquarter of the company will be in Wuhan, Hubei Province. A central hub of operation will be set up for each business unit .
其总部将设于湖北省武汉市，每一个业务部门将分别设有一个核心运营基地。

sovereign-wealth
n. 主权财富；所谓主权财产；主权基金是由主权财富
例：There is no evidence so far that sovereign-wealth funds are trying to wield inappropriate influence in the companies they invest in.
目前还没有迹象表明国控资金正对他们投资的公司施加不当影响。

Warehousing 美 ['wer.haʊzɪŋ] 英 ['weə(r).haʊzɪŋ]
[1] n.仓储；仓储业
例：EDM is often used as a reference model for information integration or as a basis for persistent databases and data warehousing.
EDM通常用作信息集成的参考模型，或者用作持久性数据库和数据仓库的基础。

presumably美 [prɪ'zuməbli] 英 [prɪ'zjuːməbli]
[1] adv.大概；很可能；想必是
例：The company says it has an airline ready to unveil the system in two months time, presumably with devices for business or first class.
该公司表示，已经有一家航空公司准备在两个月后推出这一系统，很可能是专门针对商务舱或者头等舱乘客的。

one-belt one-road initiative
一带一路倡议

Bilateral美 [.baɪ'læt(ə)rəl] 英 [baɪ'læt(ə)rəl]
[1] adj.双方的；双边的；（身体部位）双侧的；（大脑）两半球的
[2] n.双边会议；双边会谈
例：China is ready to explore new areas and new ways of expanding bilateral trade and promote sustained and stable growth of the trade.
中方愿同加方探讨扩大双边贸易的新领域新方式，促进两国贸易持续稳定增长。

diplomatic美 [.dɪplə'mætɪk] 英 [.dɪplə'mætɪk]
[1] adj.外交的；从事外交的；有手腕的；灵活变通的
例：Another diplomatic source said the US state department would be dealing with the case soon.
据另一外交信息资源透露，美国国务院正在马上会处理此事件。
长难句4：China’s one-belt one-road initiative is partly aimed at reassuring foreign countries that do business with state-backed firms, by putting contracts and activity under a bilateral, diplomatic umbrella.
句子主干：China’s one-belt one-road initiative is partly aimed at reassuring sth.
分析：that引导定语从句修饰countries，连词在从句中做主语，by表示方式。
大意：中国的一带一路倡议把合同和商业活动放在双边外交的大伞之下，一定程度上是为了让与国资支持的企业做生意的国家安心。

M&A with Chinese characteristics

For China’s private firms the focus must be on deals that contain industrial logic, rather than those with a strongly speculative or trophy-hunting flavour. Last year Haier, which makes white goods, bought General Electric’s appliances business. Even these deals are hit and miss. Geely, a carmaker, has made a success of Volvo, which it bought in 2010, but Lenovo, a computer firm, has struggled since buying Motorola’s handset business in 2014. Yet, over the long term they have a better chance of succeeding than almost anything else. As China’s internet firms accumulate cash they will go abroad; they have much to offer in terms of expertise. Last year Tencent paid $9bn for Supercell, a Finnish gaming firm.

Speculative美 ['spekjələtɪv] 英 ['spekjʊlətɪv]
[1] adj.推测的；猜测的；推断的；揣摩的
例：There are a number of speculative theories about this topic, but none of them make realistically testable predictions as of yet.
有一些关于此问题的纯理论研究，但没有一个能提出有效的预测让现实去验证。

trophy-hunting 战利品狩猎；猎物；狩猎头像标本
例：Trophy hunting can be a strong economic incentive to protect wildlife and promote conservation.
猎物狩猎可以作为一种强有力的经济手段，激励保护野生动物并推广保护理念。

Appliance美 [ə'plaɪəns] 英 [ə'plaɪəns]
[1] n.（家用）电器
例：Appliance waste is one of the main kind for solid wastes, which will pollute environment seriously, if it is not properly disposed.
废旧家电是固体废物最主要的种类之一，不进行合理的处置将严重污染环境。

handset美 ['hæn(d).set] 英 ['hæn(d).set]
[1] n.手机；电话听筒；（电视等的）遥控器
例：Google is trying to overcome this hurdle by getting carriers around the globe involved in the Open Handset Alliance.
Google通过把分布在全球的运营商参与到这个开放手机联盟中，以视图克服这个巨大的障碍。

accumulate美 [ə'kjumjə.leɪt] 英 [ə'kjuːmjʊleɪt]
[1] v.积累；积聚；（数量）逐渐增加；（数额）逐渐增长
例：Trying to accumulate wealth by the sweat of your brow and hard labor is one way to become the richest man in the graveyard.
试图通过辛苦的体力劳动来积累财富，那么，你有可能会在垂暮之年变成最富有的人。

expertise美 [.ekspər'tiz] 英 [.ekspə(r)'tiːz]
[1] n.专长；专门知识；专门技能
例：I knew you were one of the main drivers behind the enterprise acquisitions, and that you had zero expertise in consumer devices.
我知道你是当初商业收购的主要幕后推动者之一，而且你对消费类产品的经验一无所知。

长难句5：Geely, a carmaker, has made a success of Volvo, which it bought in 2010, but Lenovo, a computer firm, has struggled since buying Motorola’s handset business in 2014.
主干：Geely has made a success, but Lenovo has struggled.
分析：逗号中间的a carmaker作为插入语解释Geely，which引导非限制性定语从句修饰Volvo；but链接前后两个短句，逗号中间a computer firm修饰Lenovo，since引导时间状语从句，表示自从·· · ·之后，联想陷于困境。
大意：汽车制造商吉利在2010年收购了沃尔沃后获得了成功，但电脑企业联想自2014年收购了摩托罗拉的手机业务以来一直陷于困境。

In the past, each economic superpower has created its own corporate form abroad, reflecting its national character and the state of the world it sought to bestride. British firms used managing agents in the 19th century to run remote businesses. From the 1970s American firms perfected the multinational, taking advantage of technology and open borders to run things on an integrated basis. China’s firms are emerging out of a state-led economy into a more protectionist world. They must find their own ways to adapt to this environment if they are to fulfil their destiny.

Bestride美 [bɪ'straɪd] 英 [bɪ'straɪd]
[1] v.跨坐；骑
例：They do not bestride the world; they are, like Atlas, holding it up.
它们并没有主宰世界；与擎天之神阿特拉斯（Atlas）一样，政府在支撑着世界。

Remote美 [rɪ'moʊt] 英 [rɪ'məʊt]
adj.偏远的；偏僻的；遥远的；久远的
例：The wireless remote nature of this configuration came to be known of as the cloud.
这种配置的无线远程特点即被称为云。

Multinational美 [.mʌltaɪ'næʃən(ə)l] 英 [.mʌlti'næʃ(ə)nəl]
[1] adj.跨国的；涉及多国的
[2] n.跨国公司
例：Despite their economic and theoretical relevance, business-oriented research tends to concentrate on large and multinational organizations.
尽管中小型企业具有经济和理论方面的习惯性，但是商业研究通常还是集中在大型和跨国组织。

Integrated美 ['ɪntə.ɡreɪtəd] 英 ['ɪntɪ.ɡreɪtɪd]
[1] adj.各部分密切协调的；综合的；完整统一的
[2] v.“integrate”的过去分词和过去式
例：The existence of an enterprise lies in its value and an enterprise is an integrated entity of its subjective and objective value.
企业的存在是因为它的价值，企业是主观价值与客观价值的统一体。

state-led economy
国家政策主导经济

protectionist美 [prə'tekʃənɪst] 英 [prə'tekʃənɪst]
n.保护贸易论者
例：Clinton also said the United States must avoid protectionist policies that could harm Mexico as it deals with the economic crisis.
她还说，美国在处理经济危机时必须避免采取贸易保护主义政策，因为这可能会损害墨西哥争取解决经济危机的努力。

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